I took Bluebird to Vic Syracuse's place in Georgia for its first condition inspection under our ownership. I spent two of best days I have had in long time in a spotless, unbelievably outfitted hangar learning more than I thought possible about our RV-6A. Vic obviously enjoys teaching and sharing his passion for homebuilts, even with those like me who love homebuilts but lack the acumen and patience to build. But I like to work on things and since cars have now exceeded my abilities, the 6A fills that void.
I needed to learn simple things like how to jack the plane depending on the job you are doing, what to look for in trouble areas that need inspecting every few flights, what to look for under the cowl, and how to clean spark plugs. Vic found two warped exhaust flanges the I had overlooked several times. They were subtle to the untrained eye, and it alarmed me. I hope Vic will write a few articles aimed at educating nonbuilders on how to spot the subtle things.
It helps that Vic is blessed with a lot of skill, in addition to abundant patience. In a matter of minutes he worked out some kinks on our G3X installation, and finished up some configuration tasks we had not completed all without looking at a manual because he has already installed several. He also zeroed in on a cooling issue we had, and made a fiberglass repair to a wheel pant in 10 minutes that would have taken me a weekend to figure out. Plus he and Carol are gracious hosts and a lot of fun to be around. My VAF hat is off to Vic and Carol.
Any nonbuilder RV owner will learn a LOT about their plane helping someone like Vic perform a condition inspection.
I needed to learn simple things like how to jack the plane depending on the job you are doing, what to look for in trouble areas that need inspecting every few flights, what to look for under the cowl, and how to clean spark plugs. Vic found two warped exhaust flanges the I had overlooked several times. They were subtle to the untrained eye, and it alarmed me. I hope Vic will write a few articles aimed at educating nonbuilders on how to spot the subtle things.
It helps that Vic is blessed with a lot of skill, in addition to abundant patience. In a matter of minutes he worked out some kinks on our G3X installation, and finished up some configuration tasks we had not completed all without looking at a manual because he has already installed several. He also zeroed in on a cooling issue we had, and made a fiberglass repair to a wheel pant in 10 minutes that would have taken me a weekend to figure out. Plus he and Carol are gracious hosts and a lot of fun to be around. My VAF hat is off to Vic and Carol.
Any nonbuilder RV owner will learn a LOT about their plane helping someone like Vic perform a condition inspection.
